Nothing goes better with a warm spring day than finding that last year's shorts are a little too big around the waist and a picking up a frothy cold Tim Hortons' iced cap.

But where can those of us living abroad go to fulfill that iced java craving? Sadly, Tim's has not yet taken over the world and there are still many underdeveloped areas of this continent with a *shudder* Starbucks or a *double shudder* Dunkin Donuts on every street corner!

Well, don't fret because thanks to this handy dandy recipe, Canucks abroad can make iced caps at home.

Heat the 4 cups of milk to boiling; remove from heat. Add creamer, vanilla, instant coffee and hot chocolate mix; stir well. Pour mixture into a container with a lid; put into freezer and freeze until very firm, but slightly slushy. Put mixture in a food processor; while processing, add the 1/4 cup milk in small increments to mixture. Process until all is combined and nicely slushy.

The recipe is "supposed" to make 6 to 8 servings, but we won't tell if it just amounts to one giant serving.

This may very well get my butt kicked off the Expat site for being blase BUT I am having a hard time understanding why so much of modern Canadian cultural identity is based on a coffee shop. I have to agree I am not that fond of Starbucks but I DO think that DD offers a brilliant vanilla, cream and sugar hot coffee. Our land is so diverse and we are blessed with so much that is unique to just Canada.. please, someone, share with me how it is when I get asked what I miss the most about canada the it is always followed by... let me guess, TIMMIES?

No doubt it has a lot to do with their Canadiana-laced advertising campaigns of recent years. But I think there's more to it than that.

When I go fishing with the guys, we get up very early and meet at Tim's. When I go on a spontaneous road trip with my friends, our first stop is Tim's. When I get back from overseas, one of the first things I see is a Tim Hortons in the airport.

Maybe it's because there's a lot of them and they're always open. I don't know. I live in Montreal, so we have a lot of amazing coffee shops. But that's going out for coffee, whereas Tim's feels more like home.

Blasphemy! You are totally getting the boot for that! ;o) LOL (I am kidding, of course!)

Tim Horton's certainly is not what I miss the most, but it is one of those aspects of what was once my everyday life that I do miss.

Tim Horton's coffee was what I lived on throughout university as I burned the midnight oil. Usually for breakfast my roommate and I would go and get a bagel and coffee, and for lunch we would dash out from work to pick up a sandwich. It was also where I went to mull over getting my first dog. It was the last place (other than my grandparents' house) that I went to before I left Canada. Although Tim's does have some kickass coffee and donuts, I miss it more for those times that it represents for me. (Wow, I just realized that I sank a serious amount of cash into that place!)

I did not notice Tim Horton's become a true Canadian icon until shows like The Royal Canadian Air Farce and This Hour Has 22 Minutes began to set some of their skits in coffee shops. Although Tim Horton’s was everywhere prior to that, I don’t think that people were as much aware of it being such a huge part of their lives. I was actually surprised that my husband, who is from the south, had even heard of Tim Horton’s but it was the first place that he wanted to visit when he came to Canada.

I may have to try the coffee from Dunkin Donuts. I have been there a few times and the doughnuts were just terrible. Not fresh at all! Perhaps that is just our local outlet though.

Maybe someone else could answer as to why Tim Horton’s has become such a Canadian icon. That is an interesting question.

I agree with you Matt on Tim's advertising campaigns. Their commercials were similar to Molson's where they really played up a sense of national identity. I am thinking particularly about the one with the students in Scotland who received the official Tim's coffee maker, coffee cups, and coffee in the mail!

Why can't Tim's really do cool stuff like that for Canucks abroad? You can not even buy their coffee via their website. :o(